Motion brought forth to council by Councillor Menard, which sought to restrict the bus lanes on Bank Street from 3 hours in each peak direction to 2 hours.
Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.
The language about "existing peak hours" was absolutely meant to prevent debate. If it said "reduce from three hours to two hours" then it would have garnered attention. When the language is about maintaining the status quo, it raises less red flags.
Thanks for weighing in on this. I think the problem here is that this motion was brought forward in a way that was not transparent, using language purposely meant to distract from the issue. I wonder though, since this is over a year away, is there a chance to raise it again at council?
Appreciate you looking into this. The motion does indeed result in a change from the staff recommendation and it's shocking it was done in this way to prevent debate. It's not something we want to see happen at council, as it is not transparent.
I think at this stage being open about why this was pulled at the last minute would do a lot to help appease us in the public who were blindsided by this.
People often want simple answers to the question of why transit is worse in North America (US especially) than other places. A transit agency voluntarily slowing it’s trains down for dubious “safety” benefits, as the government bans speed cameras says a lot.
Two young kids ride their bikes in a curb-protected bike lane in Toronto. On one side is the traffic lane, on the other is a streetside cafe.
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, it was raining
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, there was frost on my windows
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, it was dark
Drivers: I couldn’t see you, the sun was in my eyes
Also drivers: I never see anyone using that bike lane, let’s rip it out.
A bad day for Canada, and therefore the world.
Ontario (population 16 million, 40% of the country) has passed new legislation prohibiting bike lanes that take a lane from cars.
An escalation from Bill 212, which required municipalities to get approval.
A sad day for cyclists. Bill 60 - which prohibits the conversion of motor vehicle lanes to bike lanes (or any other prescribed purpose) - has passed Third Reading this morning which will kill various cycling projects in Toronto & across Ontario. #shame #BikeTO #BikeSky #TOpoli #ONpoli #VisionZero
Diagram of all current indefinite Temporary Speed Restrictions in effect on Line 1. This info has not been public but I finally got an MFIPPA released recently so I can share this. All TSRs except the ones at the ends are at the request of Alstom, and have been in place since the LRT inquiry in 2022
Unfortunately drivers turning right on red rarely are paying attention to pedestrians. It should be banned downtown and throughout Ottawa
Watch and learn. 👀 🧠
I’ve written often about how infants learn language not just with their ears, but with their eyes.
But I’ve rarely run across a better video example than this lovely moment shared to IG by seanandcaitlin.
(Thread 🧵)
Did you see icebergs too??
😐😒
A male Violet-headed Hummingbird perched at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #CostaRica
#birds #nature
One thing that I was thought was revealing about the divisions within Canada:
When Carney acknowledged Poilievre's hard work on his campaign in his victory speed, the crowd of Liberals cheered.
When Poilievre mentioned Carney in his concession speech, there was loud booing.
This is an embarrassment for the city. There's never enough money for making roads safer for non-car users, because all the money has been siphoned away to general coffers!
An aerial shot of the Commanda pedestrian bridge
Good news: The Chief William Commanda Bridge re-opens tomorrow to pedestrians and cyclists!
Bonkers that we live in a world where Liberation Day is a term used by the US government to commemorate the day when it imposes huge tariffs including on allies - with massive price increases to the American public - significantly increasing the likelihood of a global recession.
Hard to take cities seriously on housing when building a modest new structure on a lot you own requires multiple "public hearings" as if you're changing the law to allow public swordfighting, or driving while drunk.
Image showing the expected trip shares between the current numbers in 2022 versus the expected numbers in 2046 according to the city's Transportation Master Plan document.
The City's TMP phase 5 released today is... extremely disappointing. It pushes the same status quo, if anything it walks back many of the very necessary transit priority projects we needed.
We're expecting less than a 2% drop in personal vehicle use in our modal share. In 20 years. Embarrassing
Please get involved and advocate for better transit infrastructure in Ottawa! The proposals have left out key improvements on major routes through the core and instead focus, once again, on commuters in and out of the city.
Would love if they put bus lanes from Billings to downtown, but I think the city would implode trying to propose that idea.
If only they collapsed provincially too..
The dream!
Here's hoping the city actually goes through with it. They've been suspiciously quiet on this project. I emailed asking for an update two weeks ago but didn't get a response.
We need more of this!
Introducing bike lanes is about creating transportation choice. When you give people safe choices, they can choose a bike for some trips, reducing congestion and reducing conflict between users. Leaders don’t need more evidence, we need to speak better to the public feeling of scarcity.
Happy to be part of your riding now! 🙌
